Our City's Native American Past

I n the Watson Industrial Center in Carson,
there is a bronze plaque near the southeast corner of 230th Street and Utility Way, next to the Pioneer building. Los Angeles Historical marker No. 13 commemorates the discovery of relics from our city's history, a story that began long before the arrival of the Spanish and other European explorers of the Southern California coastline.

T he Suangna village of Native Americans once stood on this very spot, which is now surrounded by modern, high-tech factories. The site was once part of a large village complex occupying the inner harbor area. Native Americans like the Suangna (or Tongva) had established villages in the Rancho San Pedro area 6,000 years before the first white men arrived on the shores of Southern California.

K nown to the Spanish as Gabrielino Indians(named after
the Mission San Gabriel), they gathered shellfish, hunted
wild game, and made a flour-like meal out of acorns from the oak trees which grew in the area. The Suangna villagers lived peacefully, traded with their neighbors, and made tools, weapons and grinding implements from stone and other natural materials. Many of these objects were discovered at this site in Carson.

I n 1784, the village became part of the Rancho San Pedro (more generally known as the Dominguez Rancho), with some of the Indians working at the ranch as vaqueros.

By the end of the 19th century, the plaque tells us, the village was no longer inhabited.

(The marker was erected by the Carson Indian Historical
Committee and Watson Industrial Properties. It is located near
the Pioneer Electronics building, close to the corner of 230th
Street and Utility way. 230th Street is a short, one-mile long,
L-shaped street which runs between Sepulveda Blvd on the south
and Wilmington Ave on the east. The marker is on the south side
of 230th, just east of Utility Way, about about a quarter-mile
west of Wilmington Ave. See page 794-F1 of the Thomas Guide
map.)